AN: Hi guys, sorry for the delay in update! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please, please review. Your feedback keeps me inspired!

The Key

By Secret Slayer

Edie vs. April

Edie takes a deep breath and closes her eyes as the crisp night air fills her lungs.

This had been a good idea, she thinks. Let Buffy explain the situation to Angel and get Spike out of the apartment to cool his temper.

"Don't see why I had to bloody leave," Spike moans, flicking the stub of his cigarette to the pavement and snuffing it out with the toe of his boot. "My soddin' apartment."

Edie rolls her eyes. "Ya know, for an old guy, you're awfully immature."

She gives him a teasing smile, watching as his eyes flash gold for a second with irritation. She bites her bottom lip to stifle a giggle she's sure would get her eaten.

"Oi! I am not old," the vampire protests and squares his shoulders, straightening his jacket and setting his chin in a gesture of stubbornness. "Immortal," he corrects, "It's a whole different vibe."

"Uh huh," Edie replies slowly, her green eyes twinkling mischievously.

He glares at her briefly, before smirking and stalking towards her until she can feel his unnecessary breath tickle the skin on her cheeks. She feels as though she loses all control and her knees go weak from his closeness. Instinctively, she leans towards him, gently grabbing the leather of his jacket at the elbows for support. He cocks his head, curious by the way she reacts to his subtle movement.

"Also had a right decent birthday present to give you," he purrs into her ear.

Edie feels her cheeks burn at the insinuation and shyly looks down to her shoes. She doesn't see the way his smirk transforms into warm smile at her modesty. He carefully places his index finger beneath her chin and raises her gaze to meet his.

"You're jumpin' to conclusions luv," Spike replies with a laugh in his tone.

A snort of a chuckle escapes from Edie, but her vibrant green eyes remain locked on his, a smile slowly beginning to form on her own lips.

"Didn't think I wouldn't get you a gift, did you pet?" he asks, but she doesn't reply, knowing too well its rhetorical as he already begins to reach into the deep pockets of his leather jacket.

"I thought a nice, non-crypty place to sleep was a pretty good present," she says light-heartedly, but her eyes are wide and focused on his hand as he rummages in his pocket.

He laughs a little at what she says and mumbles something about her aunt not really giving him an option on that one. He's about to grab the small object hidden in his jacket, when an unusual scent drifts his way. He looks up just in time to see a brunette woman approach with an overly cheery smile.

Edie also notices the stranger and her focus on her gift is broken as she stares warily at the woman.

"Hi," the woman greets brightly.

The full moon casts a silvery glow on the flawless skin of this unexpected visitor. She looks between Edie and Spike with wide, innocent eyes and her perfectly styled waves of brunette hair sway blissfully in the night breeze.

"Erm, hello," Edie greets cautiously.

"I'm looking for Warren. Have you seen him?"

Edie and Spike look at each other dubiously, before shrugging. Spike nonchalantly lights a cigarette as Edie takes a step towards the lost looking woman. She places a caring hand on the brunettes shoulder and isn't prepared for the reaction.

She's about to apologise for not knowing where this Warren character is, when a firm, iron like grip grasps the caring hand on her shoulder and before either Spike or Edie can react, the pretty stranger flips Edie over her shoulder. Edie lands with a loud and uncomfortable thud on the pavement, wheezing heavily as she tries to draw oxygen back into her lungs.

"If I hurt you just now, I'm sorry. And I hope that your boyfriend will take good care of you," the woman announces genuinely.

The cigarette doesn't even get the chance to meet the vampire's lips as he throws it to the side and leaps towards the woman who has harmed his Edie. Before he can get a hand on the brunette, a similar grip tightens around his throat and lifts him entirely off of the ground. She tilts her head innocently to the side as Spike claws desperately at the hand beneath his chin.

"Nobody touches me but Warren," she declares matter-of-flatly.

Spike can feel the way that her muscles shift in her arms that she's preparing to launch him as far as she can throw him, but before she can, something heavy and dark tackles her from the side. She yelps and loses her grip on the vampire. Spike coughs to loosen the tightness around his throat and without even glancing at the mysteriously strong stranger; he crawls towards Edie, whose breathing is only just relaxing.

"Are you okay, pet?" he asks gently, cupping her face between his hands and scrutinizing her.

She nods and her eyes shift sideways at the shuffling between the woman and the dark saviour. Spike's gaze follows hers and he instantly frowns.

"Oh, bloody hell," he curses.

Angel rolls the woman onto her back and pins her arms above her head. His legs are either side of her, his knees firmly pressing into her ribs and constricting her movement.

"Who are you?" Angel growls at the woman.

Again, she stares up at him with an innocently naïve expression.

"My name is April," she replies casually. "Have you seen my fella?"

Angel laughs impatiently. "Maybe you just found him."

Spike climbs from his feet, helping Edie up as he goes. He narrows his eyes suspiciously at the woman before his grandsire. He inhales deeply and listens carefully. Strange. She definitely doesn't smell human, but doesn't smell demon either. He can hear a heart thump, but it's too rhythmical – it doesn't increase or decrease pace as she moves and her blood smells… wrong.

"Might wanna take a step back there Big Guy," Spike calls over to Angel.

Angel glances at him briefly and then rolls his eyes. "What? So that you can pretend to be the hero? Stay out of this Spike."

Spike smirks. "Suit yourself."

"You know where Warren is?" April asks.

"No, but I can help you," Angel offers.

The woman frowns angrily. "You lied. You said I had found Warren, but Warren isn't here."

Angel is about to say something when April grabs him by his lapels and lifts him above her head.

"Hey! Hey!" the vampire yells from high in the air.

"You are not my boyfriend!" she growls.

Before anything can be done, she launches Angel over a hedge and out of sight. Edie winces as she hears the heavy thump of him landing on someone's front lawn, but Spike smirks happily, lighting another cigarette. Edie elbows him gently in the ribs to knock the smug smirk of his face, but he can't hide it so she rolls her eyes and darts in the direction of the fallen vampire.

"That was bloody fantastic," Spike chuckles. "April, you should stick around. I like you."

"I have a boyfriend, you cannot like me," she scolds. "Only Warren can like me."

Spike holds his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender, "Okay pet, no liking going on here."

"I'm going to leave now," she declares abruptly. "I need to find Warren. He is my boyfriend."

Spike raises an eyebrow at the pretty brunette as she turns and heads down the street. "Right, you do that," he mumbles.

A rustling from the side indicates Angel approaching through the hedge he was thrown over. He appears, leaning on Edie's side for support. He has various twigs and leaves sticking out from his hair and clinging to his coat and shirt.

"I did warn you," Spike says smugly.

Angel glares at the bleach blonde and then winces at a twinge of pain in the side he had fallen on. "I hate Sunnydale."

"She threw Angel over a hedge?"

Everyone gave Xander an exasperated look. He sat on the edge of Spike's sofa, a wide grin spread across his face. The rest of the gang, excluding Giles and Dawn, sit around the vampire's apartment on various chairs and surfaces.

"I am still here you know," Angel grumbled from the corner.

"Yes Xander," Buffy replied. "Please stop asking that."

"I'm sorry," he replied insincerely, "It's just a great visual."

"I'm with Harris on this one," Spike announced.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Shut up Spike."

Buffy paces nervously and then stops and looks at the full ensemble of the gang before her. They all watch her expectantly, except Spike, whose eyes are firmly trained between Angel and Edie.

The slayer pauses, "So, what do you guys think she is? I mean, this may sound nuts, but I kinda got the impression that she was a-"

"Robot," Tara answers confidently.

"Oh yeah, robot," Xanders agrees casually.

"Yeah, I was gonna say robot. What do you think she wants? " Buffy asks.

Edie purses her lips with thought, "Warren, whoever that is."

Xander's eyes widen knowingly, "It's gotta be the guy that built her."

Towards the kitchen area, Willow has unfolded her laptop from her bag and is already scrolling through names on a search engine. Tara sits beside her, aimlessly twining a strand of the red head's hair around her index finger.

"It's an unusual name. There's hardly any except ... Warren Beatty and, you know, President Harding. It-it's probably not either of them." Willow says.

"Will, can you track down this guy with only a first name?" Buffy asks.

Willow nods, "Given enough time. I can get a list of the Sunnydale students named Warren tonight, but ... then we'll have to call them or go to their dorms, so we probably can't start narrowing it down till tomorrow."

Buffy frowns.

"She could do a lot of damage by then," Anya suggests.

Again, a smile breaks on Xander's face. "To who, Angel? See how vigorously I don't care."

Spike smiles, but Angel looks genuinely insulted. "Again, I remind you I am only here."

Xander waves a dismissive hand towards the brunette vampire and Buffy looks at her former lover with an apologising smile. He simply frowns, folds his arms and leans back against the wall, muttering something under his breath as he does so.

"She was looking for this Warren, but it didn't sound like she wanted to hurt him. She said he's her boyfriend," Xander continues.

"I agree," Willow adds, "I'm not sure this is a code red. Hey, is there a code pink? We need more codes."

"Okay. We'll track down Warren tomorrow. Tonight I better go rescue Giles. He's been watching Dawn while my mom's out on her date, and I have a feeling there's only so much he can take," Buffy sighs.

Buffy is already at the door when Edie suddenly looks up, "Auntie Joyce is on a date?"

TBC….

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